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Finding Opportunity in Disaster: GSD team wins Toyo University academic competition

A GSD urban planning team’s hopeful vision of a sustainable and resilient future for the Tohoku region of Japan - devastated by earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011 - has earned first prize in Toyo University’s Tohoku Recovery invitational academic competition. Maria Ignacia Arrasate (MDes), Elise Baudon (MUP), Natalia Gaerlan (MUP), Karina Gilbert (MAUD) and Trevor Johnson (MUP) collaborated on a team led by Kristen Hunter (DDes) and advised by Jerold Kayden (professor of urban planning and design). They will be traveling to Japan in February to receive the $10,000 award for their project “Here Today, Here Tomorrow.”

Jan 24, 2014

News

Harvard team to travel to Pakistan for Urbanization Conference

Professors Rahul Mehrotra, Spiro Pollalis and PhD candidate Justin D. Stern will travel to Karachi, Pakistan alongside a team of Harvard scholars, students and doctors to participate in the Contemporary South Asian City Conference (Pakistan Urban Forum) from January 9-12.

Jan 8, 2014

News

Marianne Potvin on the perils of humanitarianism

When humanitarian relief organizations substitute for civic structures in states weakened by crisis and conflict, a new type of urbanism prevails, contends Marianne Potvin (MDesS ‘13 and PhD). Too often the resulting agendas ignore or sacrifice the needs of the devastated populations they purport to serve. Potvin examines this phenomenon through the lens of “humanitarian urbanism” in an article for Open Democracy entitled "Kabul: the humanitarian city."

Dec 17, 2013

News

GSD students and alums take on the urban resilience challenge

Mexico City was recently selected recently for the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge, and 6 students and alums from the GSD and HKS contributed to that success. Acting as the Agencia de Resiliencia Urbana (Urban Resilience Collective), Adriana Chávez (MDesS and MArch '14), Víctor Rico Espínola (MAUD '14), Oscar Malaspina (MAUD '13), Elena Tudela (MAUD '12), Einat Rosenkrantz (MAUD '13) and Johanan Rivera (HKS MPAID '13) collaborated with Mexico City to create its winning proposal.

Dec 10, 2013

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GSD and Bergamo University launch Smart[er] Citizens collaboration

The Smart[er] Citizens research and teaching collaboration between the GSD and Bergamo University has launched with a one-week design workshop in Bergamo, Italy. The workshop's strategic analysis of Bergamo will form the basis for the Smart[er] Cities course being offered in the 2014 spring semester by Nashid Nabian.

Dec 5, 2013

News

Loebs and GSD faculty and students introduce Laufen Manifesto for Humane Design

Design scholars and practitioners from around the world just released the Laufen Manifesto for a Humane Design Culture. They went public in a video that includes the voices of: Andres Lepik (LF ’12), Rahul Mehrotra (chair of urban planning and design), Christian Werthmann (former chair of department of landscape architecture), Martin Rauch (Austrian artist who collaborated on the Mudworks installation), Caroline James (MArch ‘14, Loeblogger and chair of Women in Development) and Anna Heringer (LF ’12), along with many others. Learn more about the principles they espouse.

Dec 1, 2013